


Crisscross

by idiotbrothers



Category: She's the Man (2006)
Genre: Crossdressing, Jealousy, Multi, Multiple Pairings, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Viola as Sebastian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-31
Updated: 2014-07-31
Packaged: 2018-02-11 06:25:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2057292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idiotbrothers/pseuds/idiotbrothers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even though Duke hadn't pretended to himself that there was no chance that Sebastian and Olivia would catch each other's interest, it stung to have his fears actualized.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crisscross

"Dude, you better not be messing with Olivia." Sebastian looked up from his phone and blinked in confusion. "What? What about Olivia?" 

Duke thought about how well the two of them seemed to get along whenever they ran into each other, his roommate and the girl he'd been crushing on since elementary school, constantly chumming it up, casual touches and warm laughter as they poked at microscope slides and wrangled with blunt scalpels in class. He was alight with jealousy every time, watching Olivia's eyes go soft when Sebastian made a stupid joke or squeaked girlishly at the lab specimen they were supposed to be dissecting. Duke didn't really get it.

Well, okay, he sort of did. Sebastian was a good guy, after all, even if he looked and sounded as if puberty had left him behind to fend for himself, and even if he was an inexplicable lady-killer who went from catcalling and making crude comments about every hot girl who walked by, to giving their classmates surprisingly considerate advice about how to handle girlfriend troubles. Yeah, he _was_ a good guy, regardless of all his...quirks. Duke knew that despite the evidence to the contrary, Sebastian was likely to be great boyfriend material for any girl at Illyria.

Still. He couldn't just rationalize away his uneasiness at the thought of Sebastian and Olivia getting together. "If you're planning on turning Olivia into another one-night stand, you'd better start doing some rethinking," Duke said, after he'd been silent a second too long and Sebastian's stare had turned even more quizzical. "Are you threatening me?" Sebastian's eyebrows flew up, and his voice had taken on that high-pitched quality it often did when he was surprised. "Nah, I'm not _threatening_ you. I'm just saying, if you screw her over like you do with your girlfriends...I'm gonna pound you."

Sebastian swung his legs over the side of his bed so that his whole body was facing Duke, forehead taut as he thought deeply. And then he burst out laughing. 

Duke scowled. "What the hell, man, I'm not kidding. If I were you I'd be scared for my scrawny ass right about now." Sebastian closed his mouth on a giggle and nodded with mock-seriousness. "Duly noted, chief. You're very macho." 

"Shut up, I don't wanna get flak from someone who flexes in front of the mirror every morning." 

Sebastian gave a squawk of outrage. "That's just--I gotta keep my moves fresh for the ladies, you know!" 

"I can't believe you get so much action," Duke said, shaking his head. "I'm manlier than you in my sleep." 

Sebastian narrowed his eyes and muttered something under his breath about meathead jocks, which Duke just ignored.

"Anyway. For real, don't be a jerk. Olivia deserves better than that." 

"Than what? Than _me_?" 

Duke stammered a bit. "No, that's not, uh--that's not what I meant, it's just. I've cared about her forever, and like, I don't wanna see her get hurt. That's all there is to it." 

Sebastian pursed his lips. "Sure thing. But you know I don't _like her_ -like her, right? I mean, she's smoking hot," Duke made a noise of protest, to which Sebastian grinned and knocked him in the shoulder lightly, "She _is_ ; I'm not blind, but. I'm totally not interested."

Duke frowned skeptically. " _You_? Not interested? Are you feeling okay?" Sebastian rolled his eyes. "I'm telling you the truth. Think I wanna take a break from girls for a while." Duke was flashing back to that day in Cesario's where Sebastian's crazy ex-girlfriend had chased him around the restaurant in a fit of hysteria, so it took a minute for the implications of Sebastian's words to sink in.

" _Take a break from_ \--wait, Sebastian--" 

"I'm not gay!" Sebastian blurted, face turning beet-red when he realized what he might have implied. Duke wouldn't be at all surprised if the opposite were true, considering how soft-spoken Sebastian was when his exaggeratedly macho facade slipped, and how attuned he was to what qualities girls liked in a man and which slacks matched best with any given pair of shoes--Yikes, Duke was stereotyping again. Sebastian would probably deck him if he could read his thoughts right now. He might end up decking him anyway, because Duke's mouth was running ahead before he could think, and what it decided to say was, "Okay. Whew."  

"Hold on. Would it be a problem if I _was_?" Duke's roommate looked suddenly indignant, ears still glowing red but hands curling into displeased fists. Duke was blushing now, too. "No! Shit--No, it wouldn't be a problem. I'm not against any of that, believe me." Sebastian clicked his tongue, unconvinced. "Dude." 

"I swear on my cleats, I'm not!" And he _wasn't_. He didn't know why he'd reacted the way he had to Sebastian's denial. Sebastian let the issue go, pulling his legs back up onto his bed and stretching out over the comforter. There was a stripe of skin peeking out of his too-big pajama shirt. "So anyway...what do you like about Olivia?" Sebastian asked, changing the subject. Duke swallowed thickly. "Oh, c'mon. It's embarrassing." Sebastian laughed, gazing at the ceiling. "Humor me; I'm curious."

Duke laid down on his own bed, letting his eyes fall shut, automatically envisioning Olivia's face. "Okay, uh. She's got this hair, blows all over the place when the wind hits it, like a cloud. And it always falls perfectly back into place after, like, how does it even do that?" 

"I'll have to ask her what shampoo brand she uses," Sebastian murmured, voice lilting sleepily.

"But also...also, she's really damn smart. Top of the class every year I've known her. She tutored me once, for math." 

"Oh yeah? How did that go?" 

Duke smirked self-disparagingly. "She forgot my name twice in an hour. Couldn't even remember me as 'that kid who spilled juice all over you in fifth grade', when I decided that would be a good way to introduce myself."

"Idiot," Sebastian said fondly, then broke into a huge yawn, muffled as he turned his face into his pillow. Duke stifled a laugh. "Yeah."

Sebastian fell asleep soon after that, his mouth hanging open and his eyelashes dark against his pasty skin, hair sticking up in several directions already. Duke got up to cover him with the sheets, knuckling affectionately at Sebastian's head before he returned to his own bed and drifted into sleep, dreaming of angel-winged blonde girls who swore viciously at him and chopped their hair off. 

* * *

The next morning, Sebastian and Olivia kissed in the middle of Biology.

They'd been figuring out the lab assignment, goggles raised as they flipped through their notes and chattered amongst themselves, and Duke was fixated on the fact that Olivia's hand was traveling lower and lower on Sebastian's spine. Sebastian, oblivious as ever, didn't notice a thing until she shut the notebook he'd been poring through and touched a careful finger to his cheek.

Duke craned his ears to try to hear what they were saying, his own lab work entirely forgotten as he stared at them. And then Olivia leaned forward and brought their lips together, making Sebastian flinch as his hands rose to her shoulders to push her off. Duke felt ill with anticipation, and he mentally urged Sebastian on-- _C'mon dude, tell her you're not interested, let her down easy, don't kiss back don't kiss back don't kiss back_. There was a smattering of noise coming from their surrounding classmates, but Duke couldn't pay attention to any of it, because Sebastian was _kissing back_.

His arms had ended up wound around her neck, and her palms were spread across his shoulders, and they were kissing like they were starving for it. Duke wanted to punch something. Dimly aware that the teacher had come over to put an end to Sebastian and Olivia's impromptu display of PDA, he slumped in his stool, fiddling with his scalpel and thinking murderous thoughts.

It had been one thing to calmly reason with himself in the dead of night about the likelihood that Olivia would start dating one of his closest friends without ever sparing him a glance, but having it become a tangible possibility right in front of him was depressing. Especially considering Sebastian had tried to reassure him last night by lying to his face about his feelings for Olivia. It was abundantly clear from the flush on his cheeks and the way he was grinning from ear to ear as he gazed at Olivia across their lab table, that he was anything but 'totally not interested' in her.

Then again, Duke hadn't really believed him, anyway. Just like he didn't quite believe that Sebastian had never fooled around with guys before. Stereotypes aside, the kid's eyes tended to wander when they were in the locker room, and Duke himself had been the object of that furtively appreciative look often enough.

His mind strayed back to the matter at hand as he watched the offending pair peek shyly at each other and attempt to get back to work, hands brushing unnecessarily. Even though Duke hadn't pretended to himself that there was no chance that Sebastian and Olivia would catch each other's interest, it stung to have his fears actualized.

After class, Sebastian hurried over to Duke and immediately began to apologize, dragging his hands sheepishly through his cropped brown hair and saying stuff about how he'd nip it in the bud if that was what Duke wanted, cut things off with Olivia, because he knew how strongly Duke felt about her. "You don't have to do that," Duke interrupted, covering Sebastian's skinny shoulder with one hand, and Sebastian looked up at him hopefully. "Are you sure?" 

"I'm sure. You guys look good together." Sebastian let out a relieved breath, beaming at Duke. "Best roommate ever. I owe you, big time." Duke socked him in the arm, but not too hard, because experience had taught him that the guy was practically fragile. "Forget about it. Go catch up with your girlfriend." 

Sebastian's eyes lit up at the word, and he dashed off down the hall to do what Duke had suggested. Duke stood stock-still after Sebastian had disappeared, thoughts whirling, because the unhindered glee on his friend's face had brought with it a startling realization--between Sebastian and Olivia, Duke didn't know whom he was more jealous of. 


End file.
